This invention relates to a tool useful for the repair of brakes on automobiles, and, more particularly, to a tool which is useful for coupling or decoupling a retaining pin from a spring type retaining clip that fastens a brake shoe onto a brake backing plate associated with a vehicle.
Many non-U.S. manufactured automobiles and some U.S. manufactured automobiles utilize a brake construction for a drum type brake wherein the brake shoe assembly for drum type brakes is supported on a backing plate by a retaining pin which cooperates with a spring type retaining clip. The retaining clip is a typically u-shaped having spaced, parallel legs attached by a crown with a slot in each leg to receive the retaining pin. The retaining pin has a T-shaped head which is configured to fit through the slots when appropriately oriented with respect to the slots. After insertion through the slots, the retaining pin is rotated 90.degree. to engage a groove in a leg of the clip and thus hold the retaining clip in place against the brake shoe assembly. The brake shoe assembly is thereby retained on its backing plate.
Often when work is being done on such a brake system, it is necessary to remove the brake shoe assembly and thus decouple the retaining pin from the retaining clip in order to release the shoe assembly from its backing plate. Heretofore, in order to decouple the retaining pin from the clip, a pliers could possibly be used. Alternatively, mechanics would try to decouple the pin from the clip manually or with some other standard tool. These approaches, though ultimately effective, were not considered satisfactory. As a result, there has developed a need for an improved tool to decouple and recouple a retaining pin from a retaining clip in a brake shoe assembly. The present invention constitutes such an apparatus or tool.